Into The Mines
After traveling for an hour and watching the duo, Fotas understands how the siblings fought as a team. The older brother Valec uses a wooden staff to push away and keep the rabbits at bay. The little sister Coco uses a medium-sized battle axe to cleave and kill the rabbits that are around her brother.
The best part of their journey was when Coco was surrounded by a group of rabbits the brother backed away and slammed his staff on the ground four vines shot out from under the trees near him. One of the Vines latched on to Coco's ankles, and the other three wrapped themselves onto three of the Rabbits surrounding her. What happened after left Fotas eyes twinkling. Coco started to speed up visibly, the three rabbits that were also entangled seemed to slow down and started to breath heavier. Seeing her chance, Coco steadily stood her ground and spun with the axe. She turned once around, a full 360, but that was enough. The axe quickly cut through the five rabbits around her. The three rabbits immediately died, and the remaining two were critically injured. Finishing off the remaining two Valec approached Coco and handed her some snow weeds.
"Wow you two are amazing, you defeated those rabbits so fast." Fotas suddenly appeared in front of Coco and grabbed her hands. "Here take some of my snow herbs since I didn't do anything during this fight."
Handing over the snow weeds to Valec and Coco, they thanked him and immediately consumed it. Fotas didn't do much to help them fight; he just held his shield in front of him and walked forward. He offered to help, but the duo refused it saying that they want to escort him to the mines safely. After that nothing eventful happened and the trio finally reached the Mining Headquarters.
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[Quest Completed]
You have delivered Fotas to the mines.
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"Thank you for escorting me to the mines, wait here for me. I'll be back in a bit."
Without waiting for them to respond, Fotas started walking away towards one of the miners. Thinking that they stumbled upon a follow-up quest, the siblings became excited and stood where they were.
While the Miners have some headquarters/building inside the village, their primary place of operations is the mines. When Fotas arrived at the mines, he was surprised that there was also a small town there and not just a tiny base for miners. After mining for a long time, many people probably moved here.
A few minutes of walking into the town was the mine itself. Fotas could see the earth stripped away and tunnels along the side of the mountain. Miners were going in and out of the tubes, some were even working on the outside using pickaxes on the hard rock. Several monsters also crawled all over the place; they did not attack the miners though.
Fotas approached one of the tunnels and asked a Miner that just came out where can he find Frost Snow Ores and Iron Ores.
"I have never seen you around before are you from the outside? I haven't seen anyone from the Winterhorn that I don't know." The miner looked at Fotas with suspicious eyes.
"Ah yes, I'm the new blood in town, I'm here to get some Frost Snow and Iron Ores." Fotas clarified.
"For Frost Snow Ores, just go right in here," the miner said, pointing down the tunnel. "They're just there on this level. Don't go down unless you're prepared to fight little buggers roaming around."
"You mean like these?" Fotas asked, referring to a
"Those are the harmless ones. There are many more dangerous buggers inside. The Hunters go to this place once a day to beat back those buggers inside. If we need to mine something deep, people from Hunter's building accompany us."
"Are these Hermits dangerous? Do I get something good from them?" Learning my lesson from the Icicle Rabbits Fotas asked the Miner.
"Nah, they're not dangerous. Unless if you attack one, then it will fight back. But its bugger friends won't gang up on you." He scratched his helmet, trying to remember something. "Ah, those buggers also sometimes eat Frost Snow ores. Maybe you can get them to spit it out. And the exchange up in the village also buys their carapace. Gets you some rings to buy your pickax if you are goin' to mine some more precious materials."
"Thanks for your help."
"No problem. Maybe you'll want to join the Miners?" Fotas politely declined and said that he was still adventuring.
Going back to the entrance Fotas saw the duo still standing around looking towards the woods behind them. Smiling at their antics, he walked towards them and waved. Seeing Fotas walking towards them, they quickly walked towards him and held a hopeful look in their eyes. Slightly laughing to himself, he finally reached the two in front of him.
"Would you like to join my team?" Before they could say anything, Fotas went into his interface and sent out party invites to the two.
Fotas discovered partying and friend requests earlier when he was walking with them throughout the journey to the mines.
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[Fotas has sent you a party invite]
[Fotas has sent you a friend request]
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A shock could still be seen on Coco's and Valec's faces. They couldn't believe that all this time Fotas the person they thought was an NPC was a real player. Still laughing at their reaction, Fotas started to explain to them why he introduced himself as an NPC at the beginning. He wanted to see if he could give players quest without having to provide them with the quest directly. He also wanted to see their play style and how they treat NPC's. If they had mistreated him at the beginning and not accept the little girl's request. He wanted to see if they were trustworthy to work together with.
"But how can we trust you now, you lied to us once you can lie to us again." Valec was now alert and pushing Coco behind him.
"Well, that is because I have a connection with the mayor, and I know the current situation of why Winterhorn is what it is, I also know how to get out of Winterhorn." A slight smile never left his lips.
"If we ask around we could probably find a way out of here too. There is no need for you to tell us anything we can find out ourself." Valec immediately rebutted.
"Not without this quest, you won't."
After finishing his statement, he shared with them the quest notification. Reading through it quickly, valec realized that Fotas wasn't lying and that he does have a quest to escape from Winterhorn.
"So even if you escape from here there I would still benefit in the end, you would be doing my labor for me." Laughing lightly at this point, Fotas continued.
"If you were to join me, I can share this quest with you. As a bonus, I will share my full information with you, that is if you let me see your information too. After this, we will be starting on a clean slate, and our cooperation will be built on trust." There seemed to be a devil floating behind Fotas, giving out whispers of temptation.
A crease slowly started to form on Valec's forehead. He knew that if they complete this quest, then this would bring themselves ahead of the current beta player population. The offer was very tempting, but he was afraid of being crossed by Fotas again. He doesn't want to be used by Fotas and then be sacrificed for his efforts. Seeing the hesitation on her brother Coco dispelled her fears and held onto her brothers hand tighter.
"We agree, But we hope to be on equal terms and be treated with respect. If this relationship is built on trust, then it would collapse quickly, why don't you make a new incentive." Coco responded instead of her brother.
A surprised look appeared on Fotas's face after Coco's sudden outburst, but he quickly smiled right after her last statement.
"Of course, this relationship is built on trust after I share the quest it is now permanently in your quest tab. Also, my life is in your hands. I am the front line after all without Valec to heal me and you to do damage I can't do anything at all. Me showing my status is to tie us down together." The words flowed naturally as if he prepared to say this all along. "So, will you trust me."
Both of his hand was placed in front of the siblings. Fotas stood there with a smile on his face and waited for his decision. He had confidence in his statement that he did nothing other than wait for the pair to make his decision. The two looked at each other and decided to accept the Invite. They both reached out their hands and clasped his hand firmly.
"I hope to make this a lasting partnership." A wide grin now plastered on his face. "First, as proof of my word, here's my status. Please show me yours after you look at mine."
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[Name]: Fotas
[Level]: 2 (0/800)
[Class]: Beginner
[Blessing]:
[Health Points]: 250 (+50)
[Mana]: 60
[Stats]:
Strength*: 7
Agility*: 4
Constitution*: 15 (+5)
Intelligence*: 6
[Special Stats]:
Endurance*: 10
Luck*: 5 (+1)
[Resistances]:
Ice: 20%
Cold: 20%
[Skills]: Desperate strike*, Suction Body*
[Forte]: Fatso*
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Seeing his stats and skill, both Valec and Coco were amazed at how his state points are so incredibly different. His agility is close to 4, but his Constitution is already at 20!
"Here, this is my stats. I'll go first." Valec pulled out his interface and sent it towards Fotas.
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[Name]: Valec
[Level]: 2 (328/800)
[Class]: Beginner
[Blessing]: None
[Health Points]: 80
[Mana]: 170
[Stats]:
Strength*: 5
Agility*: 7
Constitution*: 8
Intelligence*: 12
[Special Stats]:
Wisdom*: 10
Wood Affinity*: 5
[Resistances]:
Wood*: 20%
[Skills]: Staff Mastery*, 3-Point Thrust*
[Forte]: Wooden Sactuary*
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"Oh, Oh me, next!" Coco chimed in excitedly.
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[Name]: Coco
[Level]: 2 (153/800)
[Class]: Beginner
[Blessing]: None
[Health Points]: 90
[Mana]: 60
[Stats]:
Strength*: 11
Agility*: 7
Constitution*: 9
Intelligence*: 4
[Special Stats]:
Power*: 10
Wood Affinity*: 5
[Resistances]:
Wood*: 20%
[Skills]: Axe Mastery*, Cleave*
[Forte]: Lumberjack*
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After the three discussed what to do next and where to go from here. Looking around, Fotas looked for one of the Hermits to test the monster before they go into the mine. Telling the other two to invest five points into their stats, for now, to test if they feel any difference and save five points for later for when they need it.
Putting three points into strength and two points into speed, Fotas proceeds to charge at the Hermit that was out in the open and had no other Hermit near it. Valec put two points into Constitution and three points into Intelligence. Coco, on the other hand, put two points into Constitution, one point into Agility, and two points into Strength.
He charged at it with his spear, sending it back a couple of meters. It tumbled but instantly got back on its legs. It menacingly snapped its craggy claws at me and walked forward.
"Huh, so you're not the type of crab that can walk only sideways," he said to himself.
Quickly stabbing it, the spear dealt damage about a tenth of its health. The hermit began to snip at Fotas legs dealing some damage. He then pushed it away with his shield and held his ground. Charging in again, the hermit started to snap his claws furiously. Although it charged, it was a slow creature. The only thing it had going for it was that it was extremely durable. Valec pulled his staff out and slammed it on the ground and summoned the four vines again, except this time two of the vines tied to Fotas leg and the other two were tied onto the hermit. Coco procced to charge from the left side of Fotas and struck at the shell of the hermit with her axe.
Eventually, they killed the Frost Hermit. It didn't drop a Frost Snow Ore, but it did leave behind a carapace. Fotas checked the time that it took to kill the monsters and realized that it took them only 30 seconds. Realizing that this was a great way to get the ores; instead, he decided that while traveling inside the mines, they should kill as much Frost Hermits as they can. Grabbing a pickax from one of the carts outside the tunnel, the trio nodded at each other and proceeded to walk deeper into it.
And thus, Hermits met their end.
[Ranking Player
[Ranking Player
[Ranking Player